Hammock



Nov. 27, 1928. 1,693,564

P. J. MURPHY ET AL HAMMOCK' Filed. NOV. 5, 1926 L lNVEA/TOES W f Pnu/ J?Mar 0g 5/12 or .5. Jonhzy.

ATTORNEYS Patented Nov 2?, lees,

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"PAUL J.

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Application filed November This invention relates to ham-mocks, and hasfor its main object to provide a hammock that is as COB'lfOl'titblG tolie upon as a conventional bed.

Another object of the invention is .to provide a hammock, which, inaddition to having the desirable characteristic above pointed out, islight in weight, inexpensive to manufacture and t such design that itcan be di assembled and assembled quickly and stored ina small spacewhen it is not in use.

To this end a hammock has been devised that comprises a iiexiblesupporting member forn'ied preferably from a strip of fabric andcombined with a means that effectively prevents the intermediate portionof said sup".

porting member from saggingor from fold ing'inwardly intermediate itsside edges when it is subjected to the weight of a persons boc y. blesupporting member will yield or give sufiiciently to conform to thecontour of the users body, but the intermediate portion of same willremain taut and disposed in a substantially horizontal plane throughoutits entire area, even when it is subjected to a very heavy load.Consequently, such a hammock has all oi the desirable qualities of a bedand also the desirable features but none of the objections of aconventional hammock. v

'l he supporting member of ti e hammock is formed preferably from astrip ofcanvas or other suitable strong material, and the means that isused to prevent the intermediate portion or said supporting member fromsagging or folding inwardly intermediate its side edges when the hammockis in use consists of two rigid end members, out greater length than thewidth of said intermediate portion, arranged transversely of thesupporting 7 member, and devices attached to the end portions ottsaidtransverselydisposed end members and connected to the side edges of theintermediate portion of said supporting member in such a way as'to tendto hold said intermediate portion taut and keep it from sagging.Preferably rigid side members are arrangedat the side edges of theintermediate port-ion. of said supporting member, and flexiblestays areattached to said side members and to said end members so as to support aperson in a substantially horizontal plane by a proportionatedistribution or the weight between the side and end members. It is im-When the hammock is in use the flexi-' EUREHY AND GREGQEYB. SOHTAG, OFST. LOUIS, IVIISSOURI, ASSIGNORS T0 ST. STANISLAUS SEMlNABY, OFFLORISSANT,

MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF EAMMOGK.

5, 1926. Serial No. 146,364.

material how the end members are combined with or attached to theflexible supporting member of the hammock, and the devices or othermeans used-to join said rigid members to the intermediate portion of thesupporting member can be constructed in various ways without departingfrom the spirit of themvention. It is preferable, however, to combineco'iled springs or other suitable resilient elements with theflexible stays, so as to'impart substantially the sameilexibility to thehammock that exists in a conventional bed equipped with a mattress and aresilient sup porting means for the mattress.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a top-plan view of a hammock constructed inaccordance with the invention. 1

Figure 2 in an enlarged perspective View of a'portion of the hammock,showing how the endportions of tie supporting member are disposed whenthe hammock is not in use and Figure 3 is a similar view, showing howthe supporting member acts under a load.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of theinvention, A designates a flexible supporting member formed usually froma strip of heavy canvas about 8 ft. long and inches wide, B designatesrigid members arranged transversely of the supporting member A attheends of same and of considerably greater length than the width oisaidsupporting member so that the members B will project laterally beyondthe-side edges ofthesupporting member, asshow'n in Figure '1, Gdesignates longitu'dinally-dis posed, rigid members arranged at the sideedges or the supportingmember A,-and D designates'inclined flexiblestays attached to the ends of the transversely-disposed end members Band to the longitudinally-disposed side members C. The side members Cand the end members B may vary in length, but in hammock provided with asupporting member A of approximately 30 inches in width it will besufiicient if the side members C are made approximately 32 inches longand the end members approximately l ft. long. Said end members and sidemembers can either be constructed from wood or from metal,'preferablymetal tubing. Any suitable means can be used to sustain the hammock orsuspend it from a supporting structure, such, for example, as flexiblemembers 'E constructed from rope or pieces of wire cable attached to theend members B and fastened to the supporting structure herein illustrated as posts or uprights w.

The flexible supporting member A is herein illustrated as being providedat its ends with casings 1 in which the rigid end members B arercmovably mounted and provided at the intermediate portion of its sideedges with casings 2 in which the rigid side members C are removablymounted. The inclined stays D can either be formed from chains, piecesof cable, wire or rope, or they can be formed from flexible memberscombined with coiled springs or other resilient elements 3, as shown inFigure Generally, the stays D will be detachably connected to the rigidend members and side members 13 and C, respectively, and alsoconstructed in such a manner that th y can be adjusted to vary thetensionon the intermediate portion of the supporting member A, and thusinsure the intermediate pertion of said supporting member remaining in asubstantially horizontal plane when it is subjected to either a verylight load or to an extremely heavy load. In the hammock herein shownthe end mem bers B are provided with hooks & that are adapted to bearranged in different links of the chains D, so as to change the lengthof the stays and thus enable the tension on the intermediate portion ofthe supporting member to be varied, to adapt it to difierent loads. Itis also preferable to have the sustaining devices E detachably connectedto the end members so as to permit the parts of the hammock to bedisassembled quickly when the hammock is to stored or transported.

When the hammock is in use the intermediate portion of the supportingmember A remains taut and disposed in a substantially horizontal plane,due to the fact that the stays D and the rigid side members C with whichsaid stays are combined effectively overcome any tendency of theintermediate portion of said supporting member to sag, or to foldinwardly intermediate its longitudinal side edges. Although the member Aremains taut, both endwise and transversely, it has sufiicientflexibility to conform to the contour of the users body, andaccordingly,the hammock is as com'tortable'to lie upon as a conventional bed. Such ahammock is inexpensive to manufacture, it is light in weight, it can bedisassembled and assembled quickly and easily, and when it is not inuse, can be stored in a small space. It has all of the desirablefeatures and characteristics of a conventional hammock without beingopen to the objections oi the conventi .al hammock, i. e., sagging bothlengthwise and transversely oi the portion of the hannnock on which theuser lies, and it has all of the advantages oi a conventional bed, withthe added advantages of compactness, low cost and ability to be takendown and stored away in a small space when not in use.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A hammock, comprising a flexible supporting member,transversely-disposed rigid end members of considerably greater lengththan the width of said supporting member joined to the ends of same,rigid side members located adjacent the center of said supporting memberand combined with the side edges of same, flexible inclined staysattached to said side members and to said end members, and flexiblesustaining devices attached to said end members.

2. A hammock, comprising a flexible supporting member formed from astrip of tabric provided at its opposite ends and at the intermediateportions of its side edges with casings, rigid end members and rigidside members removably mounted in said casings, said end membersprojecting laterally beyond the side edges of said supporting member,and flexible, resilient stays connected to said side members and to saidend members for resisting the tendency of the intermediate portion ofsaid supporting member to sag or told inwardly when it is subjected to aload.

PAUL J. MURPHY. GREGORY B. SONTAG.

